OPINION

Feb. 10, 1997

IN MARI'S
CORNER

By Mari Maldonado

Put brain in gear

when behind the wheel

Return to top I must say, driving can prove to be a scary experience sometimes.

And no, my gender has nothing to do with it!

It's the fact that so many of us often get behind the wheel with so many things on our mind. We get from point A to point B and can't retrace specific events in the process - did we stop at all the stop signs or abide by the speed limit, etc.

We take for granted the convenience of having a motor vehicle at our fingertips and, more often than not, not realize that we are in fact operating a lethal weapon.

I know that sounds extreme, but consider the number of deaths and accidents caused by use of a vehicle.

I remember as a young girl I was racing a neighborhood boy on my bicycle down an alley and entered the street where a man was approaching in a truck.

He avoided hitting me, but I was unable to avoid hitting him and rammed my bike right into the rear passenger's side. I flew forward and busted by mouth and broke a couple of teeth.

I was lucky, luckier than the driver; I later found out the man had a nervous breakdown. He worked with a relative of mine.

He did everything a responsible driver could do. He was attentive and quickly became aware of the inevitable and did everything he could possibly do to lessen the result of a disastrous situation.

I look back on that event often and wonder how I would handle a similar situation and conclude that a good percentage of the time I'm not nearly as observant.

I am, however, always very careful while driving near a schoolyard or park and when I see kids playing out on the street.

I realize I, and many others, need to be as attentive at all times.

I'm really irked by persons who feel the desire to show off their heavy right foot on public streets and lots, and drivers who think that their destination and need to be there is more important than mine.

Before climbing in behind the wheel of your vehicle stop, take a breather and get where you're going without inconveniencing anyone else.

OUR VIEW

Stirring the pot won't heal wounds

Return to top Crys of racism regarding the latest verdict on O.J. Simpson are totally uncalled for.

We do believe the first verdict in which Simpson was acquitted of killing his ex-wife and Ronald Goldman was racial. The jury was making a statement - which was completely unappropriate - about the status of justice in this country. Simpson's lawyers basically called for that kind of verdict, again a violation of the rules of justice.

Simpson in the first trial was not tried by a jury of his peers. Peers in our view do not have to be of the same race but should be of the same socio-economic status. The first jury, although mostly African-American, were most definitely not Simpson's peers.

The second jury was of his peers, those who live in the ritzy Brentwood area of Los Angeles. Although none were African-American - the only one who was on the jury was dismissed at the request of Simpson's lawyers - they weren't all Anglo as has been cried by racial hate mongers. There were Asians and one of mixed blood.

But, in our view, race is not the question. Simpson ran with people of his economic-social class. They weren't all of one race. That's the way his justice should have been handed out, and that's the way it was handed out in the second trial in which he was found liable for the two deaths.

People who want to blame racism for every problem have got to get real. Sure, we have racial problems in our country and throughout the world, but stirring the pot isn't going to heal these wounds.

Mangum groups menus by the four seasons, with easy, quick recipes to help any cook set a nutritious meal before family and guests.

Among the 140 recipes are healthful gifts, low-fat choices, altering recipes, using fiber, grains, greens and legumes to best advantage and points to protein sources. She gives a grocery guide, index of recipes and index of ingredients.

Each recipe includes nutritional information as a footnote.Return to top

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